


Protector

by bookwars



Category: Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Best Friends, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, I'm Sorry, Nightmares, One Shot, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:29:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27653446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookwars/pseuds/bookwars
Summary: Prompt: A and B are sleeping but A wakes up because B is having a nightmare, and a sentence “ Wake, wake up. Just a dream.”
Relationships: Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr. & Amanda Rollins, Rafael Barba & Olivia Benson, Rafael Barba/Olivia Benson, Team - Relationship
Kudos: 32





	Protector

Life at SVU can be a mix of painfully hopeful and realism. There was nobody outside of the detectives that realized this more than Rafael Barba. He felt their pain when a victim couldn’t be saved or get justice for them. The worst feeling, however, was the pain in the bottom of his stomach whenever any of the detectives got hurt. He knew that this was part and risk of their job but, it didn’t make the pain any less. He also hated the fact that he and the team knew the ins and outs of most of these hospitals in New York City. Or the fact it seemed that they lost more than they won some days. He tries to focus on other things instead.

Rafael focused on the way Amanda became brighter when she spoke of her children. Or a good cup of coffee with Carisi and talking about the latest trials and their verdicts. With Nick before he moved to California, those memories were spent over beer and pretzel knots. He had even good memories with Finn, usually these memories were focused in a bar or when the other man talked about his impending retirement and family. The ones, however, he reflected back to the most were the ones that involved Oliva and often her son, Noah. The random lunches together or the dinners with just Liv that were late at night in eithers office often accompanied by a glass of alcohol . His favorite moments with Liv were the coffee runs, where they talked about the latest case and their personal feelings on how it was going to go. It was these moments that made him realize that he was in love with her. Everyone knew about his feelings for the Captain, well except for her. Fin often teased Rafael about it, and tried to encourage him to make a move. But, he was afraid that she would be put in a position that If that were the case, he would do what most men who were scared would do: he would transfer and probably die from embarrassment. He was okay with keeping this secret to the end of his days as long as he could keep her in his life along with their friendship. Little did he know, his life was going to change forever.

It was a usual Wednesday afternoon. The team was handling a tough case; the case involved children being children being kidnapped from their beds in the middle of the night. No evidence or sign of who the kidnapper was. The case was also hard because all of the victims were around Noah and Jessie’s age which caused his chest to tighten. He wouldn’t admit it publicly but Rafael had grown attached to the kids. His mind circled with possible scenarios circled through his head, none were pleasant. He hoped that everything would be okay, with the kids alive and the kidnappers brought to justice. A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts. He lifted out his thoughts to see Live staring at him with concern.

“Hey, you back with us?” Liv asked as she removed her hand from his shoulder.

“Yes, sorry. Its just this case-”

“I know. Believe me I know. Just remember that we have the best team working on this case” she said, giving him a half smile that still provided him much needed comfort. 

“ I didn’t know that Rita had her team in this case.”

Liv gave him a snort before giving him a oh really look. He gave her a sheepish grin in return. A silence fell over the two of them as they returned to going over the case files. Each of their movements were in sync, passing a file to the other to put on the board without saying a word. Soon the board was filed with clues and leads, though it seemed that it was more of a mess that anything else. Both of them looked at the board looking for the clue that would lead them to the breakthrough while also making sure the evidence was gathered air-tight and couldn’t be distributed in court. Stumped, he turned towards her to see if Liv had gotten any father than he did. She looked deep in thought as he had been earlier. She was tapping her reading glasses against to chin as if that would help find the answer sooner. Rafael was going to ask her what her thoughts were when Carisi came into the room.

“Boss, we got something.” he said while Amanda and Fin entered the room. Both Rafael and Liv turned towards the newcomers as they laid out the evidence that they had found. The trio had found a connection between all the kids being kidnapped with all of the parents having gone to the same gym. Which caused a breakthrough for Liv as she remembered an employee from the gym, Nate Collins, who used to work at a security company but had been fired for multiple reasons. Carisi stepped out of the room to call to check to see if Nate showed up at the gym while Amanda and Fin went to inform Kat of the latest update. Liv went to go with the duo but Rafael stopped her. For some reason that he couldn’t explain, he had a bad feeling about this case. He knew that the team could handle anything that was thrown their way but, it still didn’t settle the pit in his stomach. Realizing Liv was expecting an answer from him, he let go of her arm. He tried to say something about his current feelings but, the words were caught in his throat. Seeing him struggling, she stopped him. She grabbed his hand in return.

“Hey, we will be okay. I know your gut is going off right now, but we will be okay. There is nothing in this guys profile that shows he is nothing we can’t handle. It's part of our job to run into danger and save those kids.” she said looking him in the eye.

“I hope you’re right. It's just-.”

“I know.” Liv said as Carisi entered the room. They jumped apart as if caught doing something wrong. He seemed to not notice or care before jumping into his news: “Liv, he didn’t show up for work today.”

“Okay, grab the rest of the team. I just have to grab my gear.” she said leading the younger man out of the room before turning back to her partner.

“I’ll get the warrant over Judge Parton, and email it over to you.” Rafael said as he put on his suit jacket. The trio separate with their different tasks. However, with the group breaking up, the worry came back in. What if something goes wrong and one of the team gets hurt? Or worse. He was glad for the easy task of getting a warrant but, his palms were sweating causing it harder to write the correct words. He made it to an elevator door before he felt a soft hand on his elbow. He turned around, to see Liv standing there with the new addition of her gear.

“Hey, we will be okay. See you in a few.” He just nodded his head before she turned around and headed back to her crew.

The next couple hours were painfully fast. Rafael was able to get the warrant in record time, and sent it to them. Then came the hard part: the wait. Thing about serving warrants is that they could go several ways, with most of the time being served without any trouble. Even though he knew this, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. His gut was screaming this at him even with Liv’s previous words. He managed to get a few things done and even sent Carmen home early. It was eight at night and he still hadn’t heard anything. He was about to head home, when his phone rang. His stomach dropped when he said it was Fin, since it was always Liv who updated him on cases. This caused him to skip pleasantries when he answered the call.

“Who’s hurt?” Silence met him at the other end.

“Fin-”

“Liv took one to the shoulder; it was a flesh wound so she should be out within an hour. It's Carisi that we are worried about. Took one to the gut.” Rafael had never heard the older detective's voice sound broken and scared.

“I’ll be there soon. Fin, I don-”

“I know It will be okay. Carisi will pull through this; he is a fighter and Amanda would kick his ass if he died. Just get here as fast as you can. The team needs you. When you get here, Amanda or I will vouch for you. Just get here.” After getting to the hospital’s address, the pair hung up on each other and Rafael took off to the hospital.

The drive to the hospital was heart pounding and cruel. He got lucky with traffic being light for New York City; but it still caused his tempo to go at a near snails speed. Knowing that Liv and Carisi had gotten hurt sent his stomach into further turmoil. There was nothing he could’ve done. Pulling into the hospital parking lot, he quickly put the car into park and ran to the nearest garbage can to relieve the contents of his stomach into it. Once he was done, he made sure his car was locked before heading into the building. At least a dozen officers were in the waiting room including the uninjured members of the team. He started to make his way over to the team but was stopped but a uniformed officer. Before he could say anything, Fin came over and vouched for him. He was then pulled to the side.

“No news yet on Carisi. Liv should be out soon; she has been making calls even though she got shot too.” Fin said, even as he kept looking at the glass paned doors that separate them from their friend who was fighting for his life.

“Fin, what happened?”

“He was waiting for us. Apparently, he had a police scanner and heard about us going to his place of work. We were about to go in when he just started shooting at us. Carisi pushed Amanda out of the way and took the bullet for her. Liv managed to put Collins down but she took one to the shoulder. The ambulance got there quickly, but it was still touch and go for a while. It has been an hour, and still nothing on him yet.”

Rafael placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort the older man. However, they sooner turned their attention to Amanda, who had her face in hand and shoulder were shaking. They quickly moved over to her and started to try and comfort her. Kat began to pace around the room, trying to get rid of some of the anxiety that was building in her. Liv still didn’t come into the room and no update came on her. More time passed unnoticed before a doctor came out looking somber. The group moved closer, preparing themselves for the news that they lost another friend.

The doc looked them in the eye and said: “It was touch and go. But, he should pull through. The bullet managed to miss all the important and vital organs. You should be able to see him soon."

“Thank God” While the rest of the group was talking about next steps, Rafael slipped away. He had too; the anxiety of it all was getting to be too much. Slipping to the ground, he placed his head between his hands and tried to take control of himself. He wasn’t succeeding; the events of the past couple hours caught up with him. A couple of hands tried to remove his hands away, but he quickly pulled them back in. However, he heard a wince that stopped him cold. Looking up, he saw Liv there giving him a sympathetic smile.

“How-”

“Doc just left to get my paperwork. A few seconds earlier and you would’ve seen me naked.”

“Oh god, I am so sorry.”

“It's okay, your mind was on other things.” she said before sliding down and sitting next to him. He would’ve leaned his head on her shoulder, but he didn’t want to hurt her anymore. He did put his hand into hers trying to provide some comfort.

She looked at him and said: “Let me take you home.” He silently shook his head yes. She pulled him to his feet and towards the door. He stopped her by pulling her into a hug. Both stood there for an unknown period of time; neither of them mentioned the tears that were coming down each other's faces. When they pulled apart, Rafael wiped away her tears before she returned the favor.

“I gotta check on the team first. Did you get any news on Carisi before you came in here?”

“Yes, doc thinks he will pull through; the bullet missed everything important. But after Mike, I -”

“Hey, hey. We have to have faith. The moment we don’t, is the moment we lose.” she said before leaving the room. He followed her down the hall to the waiting room. Only the main team remained as it was late at night. Liv quickly checked in with them, while Rafael stood away from the group. He began to check his phone for important updates on other cases. She went over to him a few minutes later. 

“Ready?” he asked, placing his phone in his jacket pocket. 

“Yes.”

What they didn’t see as they slipped out the door was Amanda and Kat slipping Fin a twenty.

* * *

The drive to Liv’s apartment was quiet. Neither knew what to say; both were dealing with the emotions associated with the case. The worry of Carisi making a turn for the worst or what the next day would bring. They were also dealing with their personal feelings about each other and potential taking the next step. Staying at each other's apartment overnight was nothing new. However, tonight felt different. It felt as if some change was going to come. Neither wanted to comment on it. The silence between the pair continued until they made their way into Liv’s apartment. Once entering the apartment, Rafael noticed that Noah wasn’t there to meet them.

“Where’s -”

“Lucy took him to her place for the weekend. She figured that he didn’t need to see me like this.” she said before motioning to her shoulder patch and the bruises that were growing along her neck. It almost started the tears again. Not noticing this, Liv made her way to the bedroom to get dressed in pjs. Quickly calming himself, Rafael began to make some popcorn. By time Liv was ready and returned to the living room, Rafael had the popcorn ready to go along with glasses of water. Together, they made their way to the bedroom.

Once they entered the bedroom, Liv went and grabbed him a pair of pjs to use. When he came back, she was completely under the covers and had some random zombie cued up. She patted under the covers next to her, and he climbed into the bed next to her. After a few seconds, he noticed that she was trying to hide a yawn. He shot her a playful look.

Noticing said look, she sent on back said: “I can make it to the end.”

“You sure?”

“Oh, I am not that tired.”

She didn’t even stay awake through the first ten minutes. This caused Rafael to chuckle when he heard her soft snores. Placing the glasses and bowel to the side, he then closed his eyes and fell to sleep. He woke up suddenly a couple of hours later. At first he didn’t know what woke him until he looked to his right. Liv was turned away from him and was shaking in her sleep.

“ Wake up, wake up. It's just a dream.” he called out to her, lightly touching her shoulder trying not to frighten her more.

Liv shot up, gasping for breath. After a few moments, she leaned against him and tried to just catch her breath. Neither said a thing to each other; just comforted each other by holding each other. Neither wanted to talk about either, but they knew that they would have to. When she felt that her breath was under control, Liv turned and looked Rafael in the eyes.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Liv, you don’t have to apologize for anything.” he said, taking her face into his hands. Her eyes drifted down to his lips, with his eyes following down to hers. Their lips grazed each other before they closed the gap. Once they broke apart for air, they placed their foreheads together for a moment with their eyes close, just soaking in the moment. Liv was the first to open her eyes and to break the silence.

“Glad I did that.”

“Me too. Been wanting to do that for a long period of time.”

“Oh really, why didn’t you?”

“I’ll admit that I was too scared. I do have one question though”

“Okay”

“What is our next step?”

“How about we make a promise to each other to always protect each other when we can? Legally of course. We also go back to sleep and worry about that in the morning”

“Deal.” They gave each other forehead kisses before settling back to sleep, ready for the next day and the challenges it would bring.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I spent a good month on this fic and I feel it wasn't my best but, I have a couple in pipe that I think will be better. Sorry for any miss spellings. Thanks for reading ! :)


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